1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable apparatus for the treatment and/or shaping of hair employing means for generating steam, possibly in conjunction with a shaping device provided for untangling, styling, or setting hair in connection with steam.
2. Description of Related Art
Apparatuses for the steam treatment of hair are known to the prior art, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,501, in which the apparatus is a curling iron consisting of a housing bearing a mandrel having a conical base fastened to the housing and projecting to form a cylindrical tip section equipped with peripheral steam outlet openings. The conical base receives the steam from a generator associated with the housing, and the steam then follows the longitudinal axis of the mandrel towards the outlet openings thereof. The cylindrical section is inserted in a curler on which the hair is wound and then steam treated in that state. A disadvantage resides in this apparatus in that the steam transfer takes place remotely from the steam outlet opening of the generator, which results in load losses and hence a diminished steam outflow. Furthermore, such an arrangement of the steam outlet remotely from the generator also leads to condensation. As a result, aside from the reduced steam yield, a return pipe must be provided to the tank, which in turn complicates the construction of the apparatus. Furthermore, because the water is supplied to the tank inside the generator by means of a hand pump, the steam chamber is often flooded, particularly when the person using the apparatus and wanting a greater steam flow presses the pump trigger too often. This results not only in a very irregular steam flow but also water discharges, which are annoying and even hazardous to the person using the apparatus.
To remedy these disadvantages, the document WO 2004/002262 describes a solution in which the apparatus is a flat iron consisting of two jaws that are elastically jointed at one of their ends. According to this document, the steam generating means form a sandwich structure, which is contained in one of the jaws. More particularly, one jaw has a tank for the treatment liquid, which impregnates a lock placed in contact with the heating element of the jaw for vaporizing said liquid, which then passes through openings provided for this purpose in the treatment surface designed to contact the hair. Although this device generates a more stable steam flow than the apparatus of the preceding document, the main disadvantage of this apparatus resides in the fact that, in spite of its rather complicated structure, it only generates a very weak steam flow, notably less than 2 g/min. A treatment performed with such a steam flow does not produce any observable effects on the hair, which must then be subjected to a supplementary, rather powerful heat treatment in order to give it a certain style, and of which the very high temperature dries out the hair and may damage it.
The object of the present invention is to remedy, at least partially, these disadvantages and to propose a hair shaping apparatus capable of delivering a continuous, uniform supply of steam suitable for a thorough and effective hair treatment, which also possesses a simple construction and is safe to operate.
Another object of the invention is a hair treatment apparatus designed for rapidly delivering a regulated supply of steam to the hair being treated, which can also be disconnected from a possible supplementary source of heat and/or mechanical tensioning and/or chemicals.
Another object of the invention is a steam hair shaping apparatus which is reliable in operation, which is designed to avoid condensation, and which can be manufactured easily and economically.